Now that we’ve gone over the equipment you’ll need to make a pour over, we can get into the technique of how to actually make one. There are countless methods for making pour overs, and they are continually changing with the invention of new techniques and drippers. This journal draws from a compilation of methods I learned while working at different cafes and researching on my own. Our protocol is specific to brewing with the V60 and may not translate directly to other coffee drippers. We created this guide to make the pour over as simple as possible, and we’re really excited to walk you through this process step by step.

Equipment

Ingredients

Set-up

Place the dripper on the server. Take a filter and fold along its perforated edge before setting it in the dripper. Rinse the filter using heated water to remove paper residue. Discard any water in the server. After placing the server and dripper on the scale, add your coffee grounds into the pre-wet filter and create a level coffee bed. Finally, zero the scale and the timer.

First Pour

After starting the timer, begin the pour at the center of the coffee bed and slowly spiral towards the edge until you’ve reached 50 grams of water and your timer indicates 10 seconds.

Bloom

Allow the coffee bed to “bloom” and release carbon dioxide gas until your timer indicates 40 seconds.

Second Pour

Again, start the pour at the center and slowly spiral towards the edge. Then, while keeping a continuous motion, return to the center and pour in small concentric circles until you’ve reached 210 grams of water and your timer indicates 1 minute and 20 seconds.

Rest

Before the final pour, allow the water level to recede until your timer indicates 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Third Pour

Repeat the technique of the second pour until you’ve reached 350 grams of water and your timer indicates 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

Finish

Allow the water to drain completely. The total brew time for V60 pour overs are typically around 3 minutes.

Don’t worry if you’re not following the exact weights and times on your first attempts. Remember, this is just one of the many pour over methods you can try. We encourage you to experiment and see what changes you can make to improve the taste of your coffee. To make things easier as you get the hang of it, we’ve created a Pour Over Timeline that you can pull up and follow along while making your pour over.

Feel free to reach out with any questions or comments about what we’ve covered. We hope this series has been an instructive intro to how you can start making pour overs at home!

Words by Samuel Han
Photography and Video by Tina Park

Pour Over Equipment